LIVE Libyan Unrest: July 20, 2011

We are tracking the latest developments to keep you updated on the situation on the ground. There are interactive maps located in the Protest map page to keep up with the latest movements. Also check out the featured twitters on the sidebar. On the Go? Follow us on Twitter @Feb17Libya for the Live updates and discussion. All updates are in Libyan local time (GMT+2)
9:39am: Muammar Gaddafi could remain in Libya if he relinquished all power, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday.
Juppe, asked during an interview on LCI television whether countries involved in the Libyan crisis could consider letting Gaddafi remain as part of a way out of the crisis, replied:
“One of the scenarios effectively envisaged is that he stays in Libya on one condition which I repeat — that he very clearly steps aside from Libyan political life.”
Two members of Libya’s rebel Transitional National Council were due to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Wednesday. France was the first country to publicly recognise the council and first to launch air strikes against Gaddafi’s military machine when now NATO-led operations began in March.
8:47am: Oil marketing company Oilibya says it has suspended any payment to the Libyan government. This, it said, follows sanctions issued by President Barack Obama blocking property and prohibiting certain transactions related to Libya. The US fear that money from Libyan investments oversees has been used to fund operations of Muammar Gaddafi who is currently under international pressure to surrender power.
Yesterday, Oilibya sought to distance itself from the besieged leader and said Libya Oil Kenya Ltd, the registered proprietors of Oilibya, is owned by the Libyan government and is not linked to any particular leader. “The company is owned by Libya Oil Kenya Holdings Limited and ultimately by the people of Libya not any individual(s) through a state company,” said a statement by the managing director Rida Hassan Elamir.
And though the company has not paid any dividends to its shareholders since it started operations in Kenya in 2006, the company said it would not be paying any cent to the Libyan government, even if it is to make profits, until the Libyan crisis is resolved. Read full story here.
7:54am: Libyan rebels have encircled the eastern oil hub of Brega and control parts of the town, whose capture would mark a major boost for their campaign to oust Muammar Gaddafi, a rebel spokesman said on Tuesday.
France said the rebels were taking over the town completely, but Tripoli denied this and the Libyan leader vowed to fight on, saying it was time to decide the battle for Libya.
The rebel spokesman said he had listened to intercepted radio communications between Gaddafi loyalists in Brega which suggested they were low on food and weapons.
But he played down the chances of a swift move west by the rebels, saying Brega was full of mines that needed to be dealt with before the area could be secured. Read full story here.
7:00am: Government forces in trucks disguised with rebel flags shelled opposition positions near the strategic eastern oil town of Brega, killing eight rebel fighters and wounding dozens more, officials said.
In an audio message Tuesday directed at a rally of thousands in the town of al-Aziziya, south of Tripoli, embattled ruler Moammar Gadhafi emphasized the importance of Libya’s vast oil wealth to his regime, and called the civil war a battle “for our way of life.”
1:30am: Thirteen opposition fighters have been killed near the eastern oil town of Brega where rebels have been pushing to seize the area for nearly a week.
Rebels told Al Jazeera, their position was leaked to Gaddafi’s forces by spies within the rebel force. The opposition controls most of eastern Libya but has not controlled Brega since April.